Thursday

Hope says it all:

We are so blessed!

Love - Beth, Ron, and Hope

Wednesday

Favorite Photo of the Morning


Today has been a pretty low key day. Hope, Grandma, and I went over to the lodge to make a craft this morning at 10:00. Hope did a pretty good job creating the layout of things, but we had to be careful with keeping her away from the hot glue gun. Her words, "We don't touch that, nope." Anyway, these little ornaments were pretty sweet when they were complete. Her hand cut out is the tree and one of the gifts underneath is a small frame. Christmas will be so fun this year!



After lunch, a cookie dunk with Daddy, and a little more "Baby" time Hope was off for her nap. Hopefully she's still having peaceful slumber because tomorrow is a big day!!! :) Mark and Andria are coming!!!


Here is a funny video from lunch. Grandpa was talking about the squirrel chattering at him in the woods that morning. This was Hope's interpretation. :)

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Tuesday

We got up here at about 8:30 on Monday night and headed into the lodge for a quick Packer update (not a good night for the Pack). Then we headed over to Mom and Dad's condo to unpack. Hope had had a very short afternoon nap, didn't sleep in the car, and was stir crazy from the ride. She was so excited to see Grandma and Grandpa and ran to open arms at first sight.

Tuesday was a fun day.

This is Hope trying to cup her ear for the "snap, crackle, pop."

Hope is pretty animated when she's telling a story. Don't mind the cream cheese. :)

Hope and Grandma made cookies and then we headed over to the pool for a while. Later, the girls passed some time with chex mix, window stickers, and more of "Baby."




After lunch Ron and Grandpa went into the woods...I'll let you ask Ron about his "click."

Hope on the phone with Uncle Mark

Tuesday night Hope made dinner for us. We all enjoyed her special pizzas.

Hope's "baby" has been attached to her every spare moment so far this week. We keep asking her to name her doll, but she just keeps saying "Baby," so "Baby" it is. She is such a good little "mother," too. I'm starting to see just how CAREFUL we need to be because everything we do we see again in little miniature dramas while a certain little sponge is playing.
Here you see her "It's OK."

Here "Baby" got hurt somehow and needs some nurturing. At the end you here, "Don't go down there by yourself." Sweet.

Sunday - Getting Ready to Go

Sunday Church Photos

"I Love You"

Mommy said, "Come here, Hope." Hope went the other way. haha


Making "Vacation" Chex Mix



This girl likes to chat on the phone. Here she is talking Uncle Brian and Aunt Tami's ears off.

Here she is on the phone with Grandpa.

Thanksgiving Practice

Hope is officially ready to roll the Pills. Crescent Rolls for Thanksgiving dinner. Check out this proud chef!


Such a fake scrunch face smile, but OH so cute.

Hope and Daddy have discovered a mutual love for Wii baseball.




"We've got la la la la love...." This is the closing song on the Signing Time DVD we've been watching. We're fans, that's for sure!

See you tomorrow Grandma and Grandpa - Gotta go pack....

This Week

I've been meaning to post more photos this week but have been completely swamped with commitments every night. Ron has been a stay-at-home father since our daycare providers - hi Grandma and Grandpa :) - have been up north. Daddy and Daughter had a great week playing, getting new tires on the car, and taking Ella to the vet for "pokes." Grandma Linda and Great-Grandma Hoot even had special visits this week.

So today in between cleaning and laundry, I took some time to look through recent pictures so our favorite people could catch up on things. Enjoy!

This was Hope showing off her camo jeans and signing ILY (I love you) for the camera. I was so happy to pull out these pants and have them fit. She just had a growth spurt and all of her pants have all of a sudden become too short. We're officially in 2T now. These Levis are especially nice because they have the internal adjustable waistband. Hope is so lean that she has a hard time keeping her pants up...especially if we happen to be trying out underwear for the day. :)

These next photos are from the Christian Community Fair in St. Paul last Saturday. This is a great free family event with vendors, entertainment, and LOTS of activities for children (including inflatable 'things,' a petting zoo, photo station, and crafts). Here Hope is stringing beads for her Thanksgiving necklace. The lady helping out at the craft table asked if I wanted Hope to follow her pattern necklace. I had to giggle. "Nope. Just let her string the beads." :) Her focus and dexterity are great and she enjoys playing with beads, but I think to ask this particular 2 yr. old to follow a pattern would prompt frustration. haha



Some of our friends joined us for the day, too. Here are the Daddys and Daughters struttin' their stuff.

Next you get to see Hope and Daddy making their harmonica duet debut. We were singing a little bit of a gospel/country flavor "Have a Little Talk With Jesus" last Sunday so Ron joined the group and thought it would be fun to get a harmonica for Hope in the same key. She thought it was pretty great to play her "harMOMica" and was the hit of the postlude!




Taking care of her babies is a very important responsibility. Hope is a pretty serious pretender these days. I LOVE her imagination!

Magnificent Moms!

Deb, (Me), Melody

Last weekend I attended the Hearts At Home conference. Last year I was invited by a co-worker and attended for the first time. This year I thought it would be fun to introduce a couple more friends to this wonderful organization. So, here we have photos of the three of us enjoying our time together. The theme was "Ooh La La, Moms are Magnificent." So, in addition to the main sessions in the auditorium where we all learned about our magnificence, we had opportunities to attend workshops about the profession of motherhood, personal growth, and marriage. If you live anywhere near one of these conferences I'd recommend a ladies roadtrip. And, if you're interested in the one in Rochester next November, LOOK ME UP! I'll be the crazy one singin' and dancin' in the crowd. Oh wait, that's everybody! :)



Cheri Keaggy was our entertainer for the weekend. She was incredible. What a wonderful witness and women of God. If you aren't familiar with her, PLEASE check her out as well.

Comedian Ken Davis was the keynote speaker this year. It has been a long time since I laughed so hard. He was fantastic. It is incredible how someone can tell such hilarious stories with a message. He reminded us that it 'Magnificence' does not require 'Perfection.' HHHMMMMM! Makes you think, huh? The thing is though, in the eyes of our Lord, we are perfect...we were created in His perfect image and He rejoices in us.

Earlier in the evening one of the other speakers made a comment about how we'd all spent the weekend being reminded that we are "magnificent moms." And, though we were all feeling excited and rejuvinated as we ended the conference, we had to remember that our family at home may have not yet received the message about our magnificence. :) Well, Mr. Davis paused on that thought and then said, "You know what?..." He then continued with something like this. We've spent the weekend with someone who celebrates our magnificence unceasingly, and that spirit is following us home. We are going home to the same God who resides in our hearts whether we're at a conference honoring Him in our lives, at home folding socks, or scraping peanut butter off the kitchen floor. Awesome! OK, so those were not the exact words used, but that is the message as I received it. We are honored members of a devine kingdom. That fact will never change. And, in those moments when we're not feeling the most magnificent, it is in that fact that we can find comfort and peace.

Jill Savage (Hearts At Home founder) closed our conference in song.


How can I post about my weekend without including photos of my lovely daughter. THIS, is the swet girl I came home to!

Hope headed into church. Yes, we had her Packer dress on for church...Just for Packer/Viking Sunday. :)

Somehow those shoes can't seem to stay on during the children's message. This is Hope coming back to the pew after being up front with the kids. What's up with that?

Spending a little time in the foliage up front waiting for the Sunday School kids to come for music.


This is Hope helping Mom lead the Sunday School kids in "Jesus Loves Me." If you're not familiar with Go Fish, search for some of their tunes. They have some pretty wonderful Christian children's recordings and we were teaching their version of the timeless "Jesus Loves Me" to the kids this week. I'm thinking Hope looks pretty natural with that microphone.

When the little left fist comes down you have to imagine a big "HUH!" grunt. We sing "Yes (YES shout), Jesus loves me...For the Bible tells me so HUH! (grunt). It is pretty cute when you get all the kids going.



These last two pictures were taken at home at the end of the game when our cheering had become less enthusiastic. YES we watched the game. Are you kidding? Of course we watched this one. We even had Vikings fans over for the game party. And despite the loss and sloppy game last week, we are still great fans. GO PACK GO!


P.S. The Pack just beat the Bears 37-3. Bummer Chicago. :)